THREE people were shot dead and a fourth seriously wounded in an armed attack at the Jewish Museum in Brussels on Saturday, officials said.

Police detained one suspect but later freed him and are still looking for a second in a nationwide manhunt.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said the scene “was terrible and left me shocked” as he saw the bodies of two of the victims lying at the entrance of the museum in the Sablon neighbourhood of the capital.

The three dead were two women and a man and all were struck by bullets in the face or throat, said prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Ine van Wymersch.

An Israeli official said yesterday that two Israelis were among the victims of the shooting. Foreign Ministry spokesman Paul Hirschson said the victims were a couple in their 50s from the Tel Aviv area.